With 1,866 counties and county-level cities, accounting for about 40% of the country's total economic output, the mainland county economy, which undertakes the important task of promoting rural revitalization and promoting the integrated development of urban and rural areas, is facing an urgent need and rare opportunities for transformation and upgrading.
At the launch ceremony of the China County Economic Development Conference 2024 and the "China County Economic Development Report" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report") held today (22nd), a number of experts said that at present, we should identify and solve the key nodes and problems that affect the overall economic development of the county, vigorously promote the modernization of the planting industry, carry out in-depth technological innovation and technological revolution, support and strengthen the private economy, give full play to comparative advantages, support the development of characteristic and green industries, and comprehensively promote the economic development of the county based on Chinese-style modernization.
The economic structure of the county is constantly being optimized
Chen Jian, editor-in-chief of the report and executive director of the China County Economic Development Conference, said that the survey results show that at present, in the county economy, specialized and new "little giant" enterprises account for one-third of the country, and the individual champions of the manufacturing industry account for nearly forty percent. Among the 200 small and medium-sized enterprise characteristic industrial clusters in the country, 81 are distributed in counties and cities. A number of counties with economic characteristics are well-known at home and abroad and have become the backbone of the regional economy. At present, the economic structure of counties in mainland China is constantly being optimized, moving towards high-end, intelligent and green.
Deqing County, Zhejiang Province, plans to lay out from the aspects of application landing, promotion of R&D, and industrial development, promotes the deep integration of artificial intelligence and the real economy, and creates the country's first new generation of artificial intelligence application county. Today, "future black technology" has become a beautiful rural landscape in Deqing, adding the background color of "artificial intelligence" to the green development of Deqing County.
Yuyao City, Zhejiang Province, does not produce plastic raw materials, but has built China Plastics City, the country's largest plastic professional market; It does not breed a mink, but has built a high-end fur trading market, China Fur City. At present, the number of domestic listed companies ranks fourth in the counties (cities) in the country, and the first postdoctoral innovation consortium in the robot and intelligent equipment industry in Zhejiang Province has been established, and the production line of ultra-high-purity metal materials and sputtering targets, which is a key material for manufacturing chips, with a leading global market share.
At present, Zhejiang's GDP of "100 billion counties (urban areas)" has reached 28, and the volume of the top 100 billion counties (urban areas) is still not a small distance from Kunshan City, Jiangsu Province, which has a GDP of more than 500 billion yuan, but the overall gap is constantly narrowing.
Lianshui County in Jiangsu Province used to be a provincial-level poverty-stricken county, a large agricultural county and a large labor export county. In recent years, Lianshui County has closely followed the green pulse of the national "double carbon" strategy, anchored two new tracks of new energy and new materials, and made use of the advantages of sufficient mature land resources and convenient "air, iron and water" to attract large projects and large enterprises. It has attracted Canadian Solar New Energy and Jietai Technology, giants in the new energy battery industry, and created a new advantage in the industrial development of "one board". It has 4 major 10-billion-level projects, such as the technical transformation of the Shiyuan South Plant, Jushi Glass Fiber New Materials, Jietai New Energy, and Canadian Solar New Energy Industrial Park.
The county is the basic unit of national governance. The picture shows the landscape of Zhangmutou Town, Dongguan City, Guangdong Province. Photography / Zhang Ke
Cao County, Shandong Province is China's largest Hanfu production base, in recent years, Cao County is committed to the development of Hanfu industry, has formed a set of original research and development, design and production, copyright protection, cutting and pattern making, embroidery printing, accessories and accessories, performance and display, network marketing, after-sales service and other complete industrial chain. At present, there are 2,282 upstream and downstream enterprises of Hanfu, 13,989 online stores, 1,084 printing machines, 3,758 embroidery machines, and nearly 100,000 Hanfu practitioners. In the first quarter of this year, the online sales volume of Hanfu in Cao County was 1.98 billion yuan, accounting for half of the national market. Among them, Caoxian horse skirt is in short supply, with sales reaching 887 million yuan.
"In the future, the economy of some counties will continue to maintain a rapid growth trend, the number of counties exceeding the 100 billion GDP level will increase, and the overall strength of the top 100 counties will be further highlighted." At the same time, the report also said that the economy of some counties in the central and western regions will face problems such as weak growth, structural imbalance, low quality, and low efficiency, and the gap between them and developed counties will be further widened.
The overall level of development is still low
The county is an important part of the huge domestic market, and it is also a key area to smooth the domestic circulation and tap the potential of domestic demand.
The report found that the current economic development of counties in mainland China is facing some difficulties and challenges. Compared with large and medium-sized cities, the overall development level of county-level industries is low, and the development of county-level industries in the eastern and central and western regions is unbalanced. Relying on the advantages of location and other advantages, the counties in the eastern region have formed modern industrial clusters. Many counties in the central and western regions still show the characteristics of "large agricultural counties, small industrial counties, and financially poor counties."
The economic development of the county depends on the full flow, smooth docking and efficient utilization of all factors of production in the region. The survey found that at present, many counties in mainland China, especially in the central and western regions, are facing many constraints in the factor combination, which is manifested in the insufficient degree of technology, management, knowledge, data and other factors to enter the county economy and integrate existing factors. Most counties in the central and western regions do not play a prominent role in radiating and driving, and there are obvious shortcomings in the integration and interaction between urban and rural areas, such as the low willingness of the county population to settle down, the small number of private enterprises and other market entities, and the unsatisfactory business environment of enterprises.
On the 22nd, the China County Economic Development Conference and the launch ceremony of the "China County Economic Development Report". Photography / Zhang Ke
Compared with the eastern region, the urbanization level of counties in the central and western regions is relatively low, and the degree of rural hollowing is more serious. Except for a few places, most of the counties have relatively weak economies, underdeveloped industries, insufficient infrastructure construction such as public service facilities and municipal facilities, and limited ability to absorb the employment of rural migrants. The level of agricultural and rural informatization is still low,
"At present, the economic development vitality of most counties, especially in the central and western regions, is insufficient, the pressure on fiscal expenditure is greater, and the characteristics of fiscal dependence on transfer payments are more significant." According to the report.
Chen Jian said that at present, it is necessary to pay special attention to and handle the relationship between the three aspects of county economic development, including the relationship between quantitative expansion and quality and efficiency, the relationship between current and long-term development, and the relationship between output capital and human capital.
He believes that after the economy enters the stage of high-quality development, the county economy must jump out of the quantitative expansion model and enter the quality and efficiency development model. Increase the introduction of innovative talents, cultivate innovative subjects, and create innovative platforms. On the basis of meeting the needs of the present generation, the green and sustainable development of the county economy should focus on meeting the needs of future generations, and recognize, correct and handle the intergenerational relationship of development. The driving force of development in today's era mainly comes from the growth of human capital and the accumulation of human capital. In the case of insufficient economic growth momentum at the county level, more human capital agglomeration should be the leading factor.
How counties can embrace new quality productivity
The report was published by the National Academy of Administration Press and co-authored by more than 20 experts and scholars, including Tian Xueyuan, member of the Faculty of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and Zhou Maoqing, researcher of the Institute of Finance of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
At the China County Economic Development Conference, Gu Shengzu, vice chairman of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said in a video speech that to develop the county economy and promote the integrated development of urban and rural areas, it is necessary to promote the urbanization construction with the county as the carrier and promote the integrated development of urban and rural areas within the county level; Promote the integration of primary, secondary and tertiary industries, promote the integrated development of successive ones, extend the agricultural industrial chain, enhance the value chain, and create more development opportunities; Smooth the career development channel of young talents, and break the ceiling of young people's growth and success; Improve the degree of intensification, specialization, organization and socialization of agricultural production and operation, so that scattered small farmers can integrate into the big industry and enter the big market; Promote the endogenous power of rural development, and lead the transformation and iterative upgrading of the agricultural industry with the support of scientific and technological innovation and equipment optimization.
"Rural revitalization is the last hurdle that must be overcome to basically achieve modernization. The biggest difficulty in basically realizing the goal of modernization by 2035 lies in rural areas. Zheng Xinli, director of the Organizing Committee of the China County Economic Development Conference and former executive vice chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said that the agricultural and rural economy is the main body of the county economy, and the development of the county economy is to a large extent to promote the development of agriculture and rural areas with county towns and characteristic towns.
Zheng Xinli said that at present, it is necessary to develop large-scale and intelligent agriculture to improve labor productivity; Focusing on the development of high-quality, characteristic and brand-name products to increase market share at home and abroad; import substitution for bulk imports of agricultural products; developing public services to increase employment; Establish a unified national land market that integrates urban and rural areas, and increase farmers' property income by turning land into capital; Improve the ability of county towns and characteristic towns to absorb employment and provide services to agriculture and rural areas.
Industry is the lifeblood of the county economy, and optimizing the industrial structure and promoting industrial upgrading is an important way to promote the high-quality development of the county economy. Yang Yiyong, former director of the Market Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission and a second-level researcher at the China Macroeconomic Research Institute, recently wrote that a scientific and reasonable industrial development plan should be formulated according to the resource endowment, market demand, regional characteristics, development potential and other factors of the county, highlighting the characteristics and advantages of industrial development, and forming the core competitiveness of industrial development.
The economic development of the county needs to highlight the characteristics and advantages of industrial development and form the core competitiveness of industrial development. The picture shows a bamboo processing enterprise in a county in Jiangxi. Photography / Zhang Ke
How can counties embrace new quality productivity? Chen Jian believes that the important thing is whether the potential and energy of the county's new quality productivity can be activated. The key to the development of new quality productivity lies in selectively promoting the development of new industries, new models and new kinetic energy according to local resource endowments, industrial foundations, scientific research conditions, etc., transforming and upgrading traditional industries with new technologies, and promoting high-end, intelligent and green industries.
Located in the economically developed counties of the southeast coast, it is necessary to strengthen the docking with the core functions of urban agglomerations, undertake the spillover of population, industry and functions, increase the construction of major industrial platforms and factor guarantees, and promote the implementation and transformation of scientific research achievements of urban agglomerations.
The county located in the main production area of agricultural products should continuously enhance the comprehensive agricultural production capacity, extend the agricultural industrial chain, promote the integrated development of primary, secondary and tertiary industries, focus on the introduction of seedlings, animal husbandry, new fertilizers, high-quality feed and other agricultural science and technology innovation achievements, and replicate and promote the experience of agricultural science and technology micro-platforms such as "science and technology courtyards".
Chen Jian said that counties that belong to key ecological function zones should accelerate the promotion of ecological industrialization and industrial ecology, and build a solid ecological barrier. Focus on promoting the innovative application of green industries such as low-carbon environmental protection and circular economy. Introduce ecological project management and operation thinking, and systematically transform the rural service industry.
(This article is from Yicai)